Love in F Minor
by Hylen
Summary: When a new CSI joins the team, Flack quickly realizes that there is something special between them. Everyone soon learns that she has had a difficult life and it isn't getting any easier.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is my first CSI:NY fic. I'm really excited about it. It is mainly about Flack and an Original Character. But DL and SMacked do appear from time to time. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

As Don Flack walked passed the yellow crime scene tape he noticed a young brunette who looked like she didn't belong.

"Uhh excuse me, you can't be here. This is a crime scene," he said walking up to the stranger.

"Actually I'm supposed to be here. Detective Allison Murphy. It's my first day," she replied extending her hand for a shake.

Taking the hand that had been offered to him, Flack responded, "Oh. Well, sorry for the mix up. I'm Don Flack. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well," Allison said, flashing a gorgeous smile. "So what have we got?"

"You like to get right to the point don't ya?" Flack teased. "We have a young female, possibly early twenties, stabbed in the chest with some part of an instrument."

"It's a bocal," Allison muttered, examining the body.

"I'm sorry what?" Flack questioned, looking confused.

"She was stabbed with a bocal from a bassoon. It's the long silver part that holds the reed. Whoever did this had to use a lot of force. The end is blunt and the entire thing is a hollow tube made of soft metal. It gets bent easily," Allison explained. Flack chuckled at the fact that she seemed to be saying this more to herself than to him.

"You sure know a lot about the uhh… bassoon," he teased. Allison laughed. It had to be the most amazing sound Flack had ever heard.

"I played for fourteen years. And it looks like she's been playing for a while too. She has calluses on her thumbs, severely chapped lips, and the taste buds on the tip of her tongue are slightly swollen."

"That sounds… very painful," Flack commented, wincing at the thought of swollen taste buds.

"Eh, you get used to it," Allison said nonchalantly. Flack shook his head. There was something about this woman that he was attracted to. Even though he had only known her for five minutes. He knew that he was going to have a lot of fun working with her. Flack's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice.

"Hey Flack! How's it goin?" Danny Messer shouted as he passed under the crime scene tape. Flack turned and walked over to him.

"Hey Danny. It's goin pretty good. New girl's here."

"Aw man! I knew I'd get stuck with the rookie. Wish me luck man."

"Oh you'll need it," Flack teased.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Danny questioned causing Flack to chuckle.

"You'll find out soon enough. She's on her way over here."

"You must be Danny Messer," Allison said knowingly.

"I am. How did you know?" Danny asked.

"Mac told me I'd be working with you. He said to look for the cocky Italian in glasses," Allison replied with a grin. Flack started cracking up. Danny laughed lightly.

"I'm gonna have to have a talk with him," he muttered. "Alright, let's process this thing."

"Okay, she doesn't have any defensive wounds. That isn't surprising though because nothing on a bassoon is sharp enough to cause any." As Allison spoke, Danny had begun processing the body. However, when she mentioned the last part he looked up in confusion.

"Isn't that what killed her?"

"Well yeah, but only because enough force was applied. The bocal is small enough to cause a puncture wound, but only with the right amount of force," Allison explained.

"Okay then. So if she was killed with part of a bassoon, where's the rest of it?" Danny asked as he glanced around.

"Well, if it was hers then it must be around here somewhere," Allison pointed out. "Unless the killer took it with him."

"Let's start searching then." The detectives searched the entire stage, but found nothing. Danny was about to give up when he heard Allison shout out.

"Hey I found it! I don't think it belonged to our vic though." Danny walked over to where she was standing.

"What makes you say that?" he asked. He was amazed at how knowledgeable she was on this subject.

"It's a low grade. One of the cheaper brands. Only about $5,000."

"Woah! $5,000 is cheap? What's considered expensive?" Danny almost had a heart attack when he heard what Allison said next.

"Well, top of the line bassoons are usually around $35,000. The whole profession is pretty expensive actually. A top of the line bocal alone is $750. The cheapest bocal I've seen was $125 and it was a piece of crap. So you have to take extremely good care of them. Plus reeds range from about $8 to $12 and last around two to three weeks each. Four if you take excellent care of it. You usually keep four at a time. Although most professionals make their own and keep at least ten at a time. I used to use three or four different reeds per concert."

"Wow. You are a wealth of information," Danny teased.

"Haha. Well, I like to be well versed on several topics. Plus this used to be my life," Allison retorted. Danny shook his head and laughed.

"Okay, so if this one isn't hers then who did it belong to?" he asked.

"That's easy enough to find out. We can trace the serial number back to the owner," answered Allison.

"They have serial numbers?"

"Of course! It's an instrument that costs thousands of dollars. Plus, there will be DNA on the murder weapon so we might be able to get a hit in CODIS."

"You sound so sure."

"I am. You see the cork on the end of the bocal? You have to wet it in order to get the bocal in the bassoon. Most people just use their spit." The look of horror on Danny's face made Allison start cracking up.

"That is absolutely disgusting!" he said, sticking his tongue out and pretending to gag. Before her or Allison could say anything else, Flack came up to tell them the information he had just found out.

"I just got an id on our vic. Her name was Shelby Lindstrom and she was twenty-three. She played with the American Symphony Orchestra and was the principal, whatever that means."

"It means that she was the best. And at only twenty-three that very well could be our motive. How many other bassoonists are there?" Allison knew that this information would get them much closer to finding their killer.

"Uhh, two plus two alternates," Flack responded.

"Okay. We should start with the alternates. They have the most to gain from her death," Allison told the other detectives.

"Alright, sounds like a plan," Danny responded. "We're finished processing the scene, so what do you say we get back to the lab?"

"I love that idea, but let's stop and get some food first. I'm starving," Allison said. Flack laughed.

"I like that idea even better."


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thanks for the reviews!**

* * *

Mac turned the corner and immediately found what he was looking for, his newest detective. She was sitting in her office researching something on the computer. He knew that hiring her was a good idea. She would make a great addition to the team. He walked into her office to see how she was coming on the case.

"Hey Allison. How is the case coming?" he asked, chuckling lightly when she jumped at the sound of his voice. She had been engrossed by what she was looking at on the screen.

"Oh hi Mac. Umm… I have some good news and some bad news."

"Okay. Give me the good news first."

"Well, I identified the bassoon that we found at the scene. It's a Barrington ABS. And I was right about it being a cheap brand. It's only $5,500. The bad news is, the serial number on it is bogus, so we don't know the owner."

"You said that there would be DNA on the murder weapon right?" Mac questioned frowning at what he had just heard.

"Yes. It's already been sent to DNA for analysis," Allison answered.

"Good work Allison. Flack is on his way over. He located both of the alternates. I want you to go with him and talk to them."

"Okay," Allison said with a smile. "I'll go get my coat."

* * *

"Mr. Cooper, where were you last night at ten o'clock?" Flack and Allison were back at the crime scene questioning the alternates. They had already finished with Paul Rangel and were now talking to Robert Cooper. He wasn't cooperating.

"Can I see your badges again? I don't understand why I have to answer all of these questions. I had nothing against Shelby. She was a wonderful musician," Mr. Cooper said, ignoring Flack's question.

"We're just covering all of our bases. Now where were you?" Flack was getting annoyed.

"I was at home watching television."

"Was anyone with you?" Allison asked. Flack looked at her with a surprised look on his face. He hadn't expected her to actually jump in on the questioning. He liked it.

"Just my cats. Do you need anything else?"

"No, we're finished for now. If we need anything else we'll contact you." Flack said. He turned to Allison and was about to say something when her cell started to ring. She glanced at the caller id and groaned.

"Ugh... sorry I have to take this." She turned around and walked a few feet away. "Allison Murphy. Yes… Yes… Okay thank you for calling. I'll be right there." She turned back toward Flack looking extremely upset.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"It will be. Do you mind if we make a stop on the way back to the lab?" Allison replied.

"Yeah, no problem."

* * *

"My office is right down the hall. Go in there and wait for me. I'll be there in a minute." As Allison watched the young girl stomp down the hall she turned to Flack with an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry you had to deal with that."

"It's not a problem," Flack said with a laugh. "So, you have a daughter. When were you planning on telling us?"

"Well Mac already knows. And I just met you this morning. It's not really something you mention at a crime scene. 'Hi my name is Allison and I have a ten year old daughter. How are you?' There just wasn't a time for me to tell y'all yet," Allison explained.

"That's understandable," Flack said. He glanced at Allison's office. "It looks like she's getting antsy."

"Ugh. You're right. I'd better go in there and talk to her. I don't know what is going on with her. She's gotten into three fights in two weeks and her grades are slipping. I'm starting to get desperate."

"I'm sure things will get better. Just talk to her and ask her what's wrong," Flack said in an attempt to cheer Allison up. He didn't know why, but he felt compelled to make her as happy as possible.

"Thanks Don. That really helped." With those words Allison turned and walked into her office. Flack stood there for a moment watching her. He didn't notice Lindsay who had just walked up next to him.

"Who is that in there with Allison?" she asked causing Flack to jump slightly.

"Oh uh… that's her daughter, Annaleigh. She got in a fight at school so we picked her up on our way back here," he answered.

"Oh wow. She looks exactly like Allison," Lindsay commented. A small smile spread across Flack's face.

"Yeah. She does."

* * *

"I want to go home." The words were out of Annaleigh's mouth before Allison had even closed the door. Allison knew that she wasn't talking about going back to their apartment. She wanted to go back to Georgia.

"I know you want to move back to Savannah, but we live here now honey. I have a wonderful job and you go to a great school."

"But I miss my friends! And Grandma and Grandpa!" Annaleigh interjected.

"I know baby. I miss them too. And I miss all of my friends, but we'll make new friends. Plus Aunt Abby and Uncle Cody live here with Scarlett. You used to always miss playing with her back in Georgia and now you can see her all the time." Allison knew that this wasn't much, but maybe it was just enough to make Annaleigh feel better.

"I guess," Annaleigh said with a sigh. "So am I still in trouble?"

"You most certainly are young lady. You've gotten in three fights in two weeks. That has got to stop. And your grades have to get better. You're grounded for a month. That means no tv, no computer, and no cell phone. Understood?"

"Yes," Annaleigh responded with a frown.

"Good. Now I have to get back to work. You can stay in here and do your homework. I'll come check on you when I can. We can go get lunch at noon." Allison gave her daughter a kiss and walked back out of the office, closing the door behind her. Flack and Lindsay were still standing in the hallway talking. They had been joined by Danny and Stella. Allison walked up to the small group.

"Hey guys. What's goin on?" she asked all of them.

"Oh we just wanted to hear more about your daughter," Stella replied with a smirk.

"Well, let's actually go sit somewhere. Unless y'all want to continue standing in the middle of the hallway."

* * *

"So what would y'all like to know?" Allison asked them. They were now gathered around the table in the break room. All eyes were on Allison.

Stella was first. "What's her name?"

"Annaleigh." But Allison's short reply wasn't good enough for them.

"No, what's her full name?" Lindsay asked.

"I don't know why that's important, but it's Annaleigh Cheyenne."

"How old is she?" Danny questioned.

"She's ten. I was nineteen when I had her." Allison figured it would make the interrogation go faster if she gave them more than what they asked for.

"Where is her father?" Flack knew his question was kind of personal, but he was curious. And he knew that everyone else was too.

"He left when I found out I was pregnant. I haven't seen or spoken to him since. It was for the best though. A couple of years ago I found out that he got involved with drugs and has been in prison for five years on a murder charge." Everyone was silent. This was more information than they had expected to hear from their new colleague.

"Wow. Allison, I'm so sorry. You didn't have to share that with us. Thank you." Stella knew she was speaking for everyone at that point.

"Yeah, well I figure it's best to not hide anything. The past is the past. I can't change what happened and it has made me who I am today."

"So you've been raising her all alone?" Lindsay asked. She was amazed. She couldn't imagine raising her daughter, Lucy, without Danny.

"Well, my parents have really helped. They've paid for her to go to private school her entire life. They want her to have the same opportunities I had growing up."

"Wow. That's awesome. So they were okay with you having a child by yourself so young?" Danny wondered.

"They were shocked at first, but they never stopped loving me. I have amazing parents and I knew that they would always be there for me."

"That's great," Flack said. At that moment Mac stuck his head in the break room. He laughed when he found all of his detectives sitting around the table.

"I don't remember telling you guys to take a break. Now get to work," he said with a grin. Everyone got up and left except for Flack and Allison.

"I'm really sorry that you had to go through that," Flack told her.

"It's okay. The truth was going to come out sooner or later. I'm just glad I got it over with now and we can work in peace." Allison laughed as she said this, knowing that this job was never peaceful. Flack laughed as well.

"Well what do you say we go out and find this killer," he suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." And with that they walked out of the room together.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you like it so far.**

* * *

"Oh my god, score!" exclaimed Allison. Everyone in the lab stared at her. "Oh, uhh… sorry guys." Danny, who was walking by when she shouted, stuck his head in the door.

"Are you watching soccer or something?" he teased.

"No, I'm not," Allison replied rolling her eyes. "I just found out how we are going to catch our killer."

"Oh really? And how are we going to do that?" Danny asked, walking into the room.

"Well, I was looking at the vic's internet search history and found something interesting. She was looking to buy a new bassoon. Which is kind of surprising because she already owned a Puchner Model 6000. So-"

"Wait. How do you know that is the one she owns and why is it surprising that she wants another one?" Danny was beginning to learn that if you didn't cut Allison off to ask questions, then you would get very confused.

"Well I own the 5000 model so that's how I know that hers is the 6000. And it's surprising because she already owned one of the best bassoons on the market. Why would she need another one? But what makes this even weirder is I found an ad that she had printed out. And she was looking to buy another 6000 model. She already had one."

"Interesting. Where's the ad?"

"Umm… right here."

**For Sale!! Puchner Model 6000 Superior Professional Bassoon  
$35,000 value ONLY $12,000!  
Call 555-0398**

"Wow. So this is a good deal right?" Danny questioned raising an eyebrow.

"It's an extremely good deal. And it's how we're going to find our killer."

"Wait a minute. How do you know that this person is our killer?"

"I checked Shelby's phone logs. She called this number fifteen minutes before she was killed. She could have been calling to make sure he was there."

"But we don't know for sure that that is why she called the number. Maybe she wasn't meeting this person at the concert hall. She could have just as easily been meeting someone else."

"And that is what we are about to find out." Allison said with a smirk.

"How?" Danny was trying hard not to laugh. Allison was very enthusiastic about her job, that was for sure.

"We're going to call the number and set up an appointment to look at the instrument. Actually, you get to call."

"What? Why do I have to call? Why can't you?"

"Because I have a hunch and I need you to call first in order for me to see if I'm right."

"Ugh, alright. What's the number again?" Danny dialed as Allison read the number off of the ad. It rang a couple of times before someone picked up. Allison sat and listened to Danny's side of the conversation. Her smile grew the longer it lasted.

'…Uh, yes hello. I calling about the ad I saw online. For a Puchner Model 6000 for only $12,000… Oh it is?... Well I'm sorry to hear that. Thank you.'

"He said it's been sold. We've hit a dead end."

"No we haven't. I still have to call. I'll wait a few minutes and then give him a call." Allison said with a smile. She knew her hunch was correct. One more phone call would confirm her suspicions.

Twenty minutes later Danny was listening to Allison's end of the phone call. It was very different from his call earlier. She seemed to be having more success.

'…Yes… Really?... Fantastic!... Where can I meet you?... Yes, I know where that is… Okay see you then. Thank you.' Allison hung up with a huge smile on her face.

"He told me that it's still available. I'm meeting him at the Snapple Theatre Center at 8:30 tonight."

"Okay, but I still don't see what this means." Danny was really confused at this point. And he didn't like it.

"He told you that it wasn't available, but told me it was. He's using this ad to prey on young women. He gets them to meet him and then kills them. We'll be able to catch him tonight when I go to the theatre," Allison responded confidently.

"Now hold on. Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean it's only your second day here and you already want to go undercover to catch a killer. It could be really dangerous. We already know that this guy is capable of murder," Danny tried to reason with her. He didn't like the idea of any young woman going undercover when they didn't know what could happen.

"Yes, but it's not like this is the first time I've gone undercover. I used to do it all the time back home," Allison said.

"That was Georgia. This is New York. It's a whole different ballgame here," Danny retorted.

"That doesn't mean that going undercover in Georgia is any less dangerous," Allison shot back. She was getting angry. She knew that the only reason he didn't want her to go was because she was the new girl. At that moment Lindsay and Flack walked in. They both looked from Danny to Allison and knew that something was wrong.

"Hey guys what's up?" Lindsay asked trying to lighten the mood.

"Ask your husband," Allison snapped as she walked out of the room.

"Danny what's going on?" Flack questioned. He didn't like to see Allison so upset. It was a feeling that confused him since he had only known her for two days.

"We may have figured out who the killer is. We think he's luring young women with the prospect of buying an expensive bassoon for cheap. She set up an appointment to meet with him tonight and I suggested that she not go because we don't know exactly what he's capable of."

"You're an idiot," Lindsay told her husband.

"What? Why?" Danny was even more confused now. What had he done wrong? He was just looking out for his new coworker.

"I know that you may think you did the right thing by looking out for her and telling her not to go, but that was just plain stupid. She thinks that you don't want her to do it because you think she will screw it up," Lindsay explained.

"But that's not true!"

"But she doesn't know that Danny."

"Oh, well… should I go talk to her?" he asked.

"No, I will," Don said before Lindsay could answer. They both looked at him in shock. "I really don't think she wants to talk to you at the moment Danny. And she might not want to talk to you either Linds since you know… you and Danny are married and all."

"Okay then. Good luck finding her," Danny quipped. Flack laughed.

"Thanks."

* * *

"Allison? Are you in here?" Flack asked as he walked into the locker room.

"I'm over here," came the soft response. Flack moved to where the voice had come from. He found Allison sitting in front of her locker.

"Hey. So what happened back there?" he questioned.

"I don't know. I just snapped. I'm tired of everyone thinking I can't do my job," she replied

"No one thinks that Allison," Flack tried to reassure her.

"My father does. He asks me every other day when I'm moving back home. He wants me to fail." The look on Allison's face almost broke Flack's heart.

"Maybe he just misses you and Annaleigh," he offered.

"That could be it. I didn't exactly move away at the best time," Allison commented.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, uhh… it's nothing." Allison silently cursed herself for saying too much.

"Allison, what's going on?" Flack pushed. Allison sighed. She knew the truth would come out sooner or later. And maybe it would help to have someone here she could confide in.

"It's a long story," she said, finally giving in.

"I've got plenty of time."

"Okay, I guess I'll just start from the beginning. Otherwise it won't really make sense. So umm… when I was nine years old my sister Audriana and I were kidnapped. She was eleven. The guy took us out of our room in the middle of the night. He raped and tortured us every day for two weeks. He always made sure to not hit us hard enough that we would pass out, but one day he beat her just a little too hard and she died. She just died right there in front of me." Tears started to fall as Allison remembered the sight of her dead sister. "When he went to bury her, he left me at the house. I took the opportunity and ran. I went to the house next door and told them who I was. Apparently we had been all over the news and my parents had never stopped looking for us. The cops arrested him when he got back and he took them to her body. He's been in prison ever since. Today is the nineteenth anniversary of Audriana's death. I've been a little on edge all day."

Allison sat quietly, tears running down her face. She hadn't planned on telling Flack everything. She had just poured her heart out to a man she had known for two days. What was wrong with her?

Meanwhile, Flack sat there feeling useless. He had watched Allison's expression change throughout her story. She had gone from fear at the beginning to sadness in the middle to anger at the end. Now she was just crying silently. He didn't know what to do. Should he say something? Should he hug her? Or should he just sit there? Was his presence alone enough?

Allison answered his question when she inched closer to him and put her head on his shoulder. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her.

"Shh… it's okay. You'll get through this. I may have just met you, but I can tell that you're strong and determined. Everything will be alright." Flack hoped that this was enough. After that he didn't say another word. He just sat there holding her until he heard her cries die down. He didn't remove his arms from around her until she sat up. Allison wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hands and smiled up at Flack.

"Thank you so much. I don't know why I felt the need to tell you all of that, but thanks for listening." She then gave him a big hug. A hug that Flack happily returned.

"Anytime Allison. I mean that."

"I know. Thanks." Wiping away the rest of the tears and standing up Allison chuckled lightly. "Alright well, I have to go make myself look like a professional musician again."

"Oh I can't wait to see that. I hope it involves glasses of some kind," Flack said laughing at the mental image.

"It does in fact involve glasses. And a messy bun. At least that's what I always seemed to look like," Allison replied.

"Oh now that sounds kind of sexy," Flack teased.

"I have been told that I was sexier as a musician than as a cop. Even though I did both for like five years." Allison's last statement combined with the look of confusion on her face made Flack start cracking up. He was still laughing as they walked out of the locker room and ran into Danny.

"Hey. Glad to see that you're in a better mood," he told Allison.

"I am. And I'm sorry I freaked out on you earlier. I was out of line."

"Don't worry about it. So are we cool?"

"Yeah, we're cool."

"Awesome."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! Here's the next chapter :)**

* * *

"Hello ma'am. I'm Jeffery Michaels."

"Hi, Allison Murphy. So, can I take a look at the bassoon?" Allison wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. This guy was giving her the creeps.

"Of course. It's right over here." The suspect led Allison over to the front row of seats. She immediately saw the bassoon and saw that it was cheap and plastic.

"Who are you trying to fool?" Allison asked him.

"I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about."

"This is not a Puchner. There is no way that this is worth even $12,000. I'd say $5,000 at the most."

"Are you calling me a liar?!"

"Yes I am. I don't appreciate being taken advantage of." Allison turned to walk away, but the man grabbed her arm.

"Sir, I suggest you let go of me right now if you don't want to get hurt."

"How dare you threaten me!" He raised his fist to hit her, but at that moment Flack and Danny stormed through the theatre doors their guns trained on Jeffery Michaels. They had been listening outside and knew exactly when they were needed.

"Let go of her now or you will be shot!" Flack yelled. The man let go of Allison immediately and put his hands in the air. Danny moved over to cuff him while Flack walked over to Allison.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Oh yeah I'm fine. I've had worse happen to me you know."

"Yes. Yes I do know."

* * *

_Three months later_

"So would you like to go out to dinner sometime?" Flack's question caught Allison completely off guard. She and Flack were leaving their latest crime scene. They had just been talking about the vic when he unexpectedly asked her out to dinner.

"Umm… okay," Allison answered with a smile. "Usually, when a guy asks me out I tell him that I have a daughter and that he has to meet her, but you already have so this is a little different."

"Yes it is," Flack said laughing. "And I hope she likes me."

"She does like you. She actually told me just the other night that I should date you."

"Did she now? Well, your daughter is a genius."

"Of course she is. She takes after me," Allison said smirking. Flack lived for that smirk.

"Oh I definitely don't think that's it," he teased. Allison faked a shocked expression, then just laughed and rolled her eyes. That was something else Flack loved. The fact that she could laugh at herself; like the time she had been running through the lab and slipped on some water and fallen on her butt. Most people would have turned beet red and run away, but instead Allison had started cracking up. And she didn't get annoyed when people kept bringing it up. She just laughed more.

Flack knew that he had feelings for her. And he never wanted them to go away.

"Alright so how about I pick you up tonight at eight?" he asked her.

"That works. That'll be plenty of time for me to take Annaleigh over to my sister's. Where will we be going? I need to know how to dress."

"I thought maybe we could go to that new club downtown."

"Sounds good. I'll see you at eight."

* * *

The rest of the day flew by. Before she knew it, it was seven thirty and Allison still wasn't ready. Her hair was wet, she only had half of her make up on, and she had no clue what she was going to wear. She almost screamed aloud when she heard the doorbell ring.

"What are you doing here so early?" she asked as she opened the door. She didn't get a response. Flack just stood there staring. Who would have though that the sight of Allison with dripping wet hair and no make up would render him speechless? The two stood there silently for a few more seconds until Allison started snapping her fingers and calling Flack's name.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. Umm… I thought it would take me longer to get here. Sorry I'm so early."

"It's okay. You'll just have to wait on the couch until I'm ready."

"Oh that's fine." Flack sat down on the couch as Allison walked into her room. Looking around he noticed the familiar signs that a child lived there. There were toys everywhere. Annaleigh's homework was sitting on the coffee table. He glanced at it and shuddered. It was geometry; not fun. Flack continued looking around the room. It was very obvious that a man did not live here. There were candles everywhere. And somewhere she had one of those scented plug-in things.

Allison had filled the room with pictures. Flack got up to take a look at them. There were a lot of her and Annaleigh covering the last ten years. In a few there was an older couple that looked like they could be her parents. He also saw some of Allison with another young woman that looked like her. That had to be her oldest sister, Abigail.

As Flack continued to look at the pictures he found one sitting on a shelf of its own surrounded by fresh flowers. It was a picture of three young girls and it looked kind of old. Flack was pretty sure that it was Allison, Abigail, and their late sister Audriana.

"That's the three of us about two months before Audriana died. It was taken at the beach; her favorite place in the world. And daisies were her favorite flowers so I always keep fresh ones by the picture."

"That's really neat. That you honor her like that." Flack noticed that tears were starting to form in Allison's eyes. He decided that it was a good time to change the subject. "So are you ready to go?"

"Yup. Let me grab my keys and we can leave." Allison knew that Flack had changed the subject so she wouldn't start crying. She thought it was a very sweet gesture. She grabbed her keys and led him out the door, locking it behind them.

* * *

Allison and Flack had been at the club for a few hours. They were having a good time on the dance floor when Allison started to feel sick, even though she hadn't had much to drink.

"I'm going to the bathroom," she practically shouted in Flack's ear.

"Are you okay?" he yelled back. The look on her face told him 'no'. Before he could say anything else, Allison ran off to find the bathroom. When she walked in she noticed that no one there, which was surprising for the women's room at a club. She had an uneasy feeling, but attributed it to her stomach. She went into a stall and got sick. Allison didn't hear the door open or the footsteps that were too heavy to belong to a woman. She turned and started to leave the stall when everything suddenly went black.

* * *

As Allison opened her eyes, it took a while for them to adjust to the bright lights. Where was she? She was in a bed, but it certainly was not her own. What had she and Flack done last night? The last thing she remembered was being sick in the bathroom. Allison tried to sit up but a searing pain in her abdomen prevented that from happening.

"Ow! What the hell?"

"She's awake!" a familiar voice called out. Allison turned her head toward the sound of the voice and found herself face to face with Lindsay.

"Hey kiddo. How are you feeling?" asked Stella. Allison turned toward her and saw that Mac was also there. It was then that she realized she was in the hospital.

"Like I got hit by a truck. What the hell happened? Where's Don? Is he okay?" Allison had so many questions racing through her mind she didn't know which to ask first.

"You don't remember?" It was Mac's turn to speak. He, Stella, and Lindsay shared a look of concern. A look that did not go unnoticed by Allison.

"What? What's wrong? Did something happen to him?" She was starting to freak out. Had they been in a car accident? Was he seriously injured? Or even worse, was he dead?

"Calm down, calm down. Don is fine. You on the other hand. You were drugged and attacked in the bathroom. Your face is pretty beat up and the attacker cut your stomach," Stella explained.

"Okay so where is Don?" Allison was still confused. If he was okay why wasn't he there with her? Again her colleagues shared a look.

"He's giving his statement. He'll be back in a few minutes," Lindsay told her.

"Do you remember anything at all?" Mac asked.

"The last thing I remember is getting sick in the bathroom. Then I woke up here."

"Don said that you had been gone fifteen minutes before he went to look for you. You have no idea what happened?" Stella pushed.

"No I don't. How many times do I have to tell you that?" Allison couldn't believe this was happening to her. Who would do something like this?

At that moment, Flack walked into the room. When he saw that Allison was awake he rushed over to her. "Oh thank God you're okay. How do you feel?"

"I've been better," Allison said with a laugh, which ended up being a big mistake as pain shot through her entire body. "Oww. That was not smart."

"Do you need more pain killers? I can get you some," Flack told her, concerned.

"No I'll be okay. Thank you though." During their short conversation, Allison and Flack had only paid attention to each other. They didn't notice when Mac, Lindsay, and Stella left the room; until they came back in.

"Danny just called and they identified someone who may be the attacker," Lindsay explained.

"What's the name?" Allison questioned.

"Joseph Gordon," Mac answered. "Is that name familiar to you?"

Mac didn't need to ask the question. The look of terror that took over Allison's face the moment he said that name told them that she knew who this man was.

"Allison? Do you know him? Who is he?" Flack demanded. Allison started to shake and then cry.

"H-how d-did he get out?" she asked through her sobs. Flack went pale. He now knew exactly who this man was.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Thanks for all of the reviews. I'm really glad that you like it so far.**

"Lyssie? Oh God Lyssie is it true? Is he really out?" Abigail Whitaker had just learned that the man who attacked her younger sister was the same man who kidnapped said sister nineteen years ago.

"Gilly! Yes it's true. Apparently he got out on good behavior. And then what does he do? He comes to New York and attacks me. As if he hasn't caused enough trauma in my life."

"But how did he find you? There's no way he could have known that you moved to New York."

"I have no idea. I'm so scared. Is Annaleigh okay? Does she know about what happened?"

"She's fine. She knows that you're here, but she doesn't know that you were attacked."

"Good. I don't want her to know yet. She'll worry."

"Of course. When do you get to leave?"

"Right now," Flack said with a smile as he walked through the door. "I just talked to the doctor and you're good to go."

"Fantastic! I can't wait to get out of here. I hate hospitals." Allison started to get up, but quickly realized that she would need some help. She looked at her sister hopefully. "Gilly will you help me get up and ready?"

"You seriously felt the need to ask?" Abigail said with a laugh. She helped Allison up and went to grab her clothes. Flack took this as his cue to leave the room. He patiently waited outside until the sisters came out of the room. He chuckled to himself when he heard the amount of laughing coming from the two women. At least they could cheer each other up in a time like this.

"You ready to get out of here?" Flack asked when the door opened.

"Yes! Gilly can you take Annaleigh to school for me? I don't want her to see me like this just yet. I'm sure Don won't mind taking me home. Will ya?" Allison raised her eyebrows.

"I don't mind one bit," he said smiling.

"Okay then. I'll go ahead and go so I can get the girls to school on time. I love you Lyssie. I'll call you later today." Abigail gave her baby sister a kiss and walked down the hall, leaving Flack and Allison standing there. Allison was a little uncomfortable. There was something she wanted to say to Flack, but the two of them hadn't been alone long enough for her to say it. Now she wasn't sure how to bring it up.

Flack also had something he wanted to say. He figured now would be as good a time as any so he worked up his nerve and started to speak.

"Look I-" they both said at the same time. Laughing they continued. "You first."

"Okay I'll go first," Allison decided. "Thank you so much for staying with me and for helping me through all of this. And I'm really sorry our date got ruined."

Flack chuckled. "It's okay. I love to help. And about the date, don't worry. You'll make it up to me," he mentioned knowingly.

"Oh I will? And how do you know this?" Allison teased.

"Are you kidding me? I'm irresistible. You can't get enough of me." Flack and Allison both started laughing at this statement. However, Allison couldn't help but think about just how right he was.

* * *

"Alright where do you want me to put your bag?"

"Um… just set it inside the door of my bedroom. Thanks."

Flack did as he was told and then joined Allison in the living room. He didn't really know what do to. Should he stay or should he go?

"You can stay if you want. We could just hang out. Eventually get some food. I guess you could say that we would be finishing our date," Allison said to him. It was as if she had been able to read his mind and knew that he really wanted to stay.

"That sounds like it could be fun. Here let me get you some more pillows to prop yourself up with."

"Uhh… thanks. This is going to take some getting used to. I hope this cut heals quickly. I don't like to be waited on," Allison commented.

"Oh I'm sure you'll do just fine," Flack said with a twinkle in his eye. "So what do you want to do now?"

"Well, you could tell me about your childhood. And then I can tell you more about mine," Allison replied smiling.

"Okay then. Where should I start?"

"The beginning."

Flack and Allison talked for hours. He told her about his sister Sam and his parents. She told him about what it was like to grow up on a plantation. Flack had already figured that her parents were wealthy, but he had no idea.

"The three of us went to a very prestigious private school. It was the Savannah Country Day School and was all girls. It sucked. By the time Abigail and I were in high school it cost our parents $16,000 a year for each of us. It was like $13,000 when we were in middle school. Annaleigh went there until we moved here. Now she attends the Dalton School with Scarlett. Thankfully my parents pay their tuition because it's $33,000 a year."

"Holy crap! Most people don't even pay that much for college!" Flack couldn't believe his ears. Allison was loaded, but she certainly didn't act like it. She started laughing at his comment, but immediately winced from the pain. "Aw are you still sore?" he asked her.

"Yeah. But it's not as bad. I'll just go get some more pain killers," Allison replied.

"Oh no you won't! You will stay put and I will go get them."

"Don you seriously don't have to wait on me hand and foot. I'm a big girl you know."

"Allison, indulge me. Please. You just got out of the hospital and I feel bad. Let me take care of you."

"Why do you feel bad? You don't think it was your fault do you?" she interrogated. Allison already knew what his answer would be.

"Well, kind of. I mean, I should have waited outside the bathroom for you. If I had this wouldn't have happened."

"Don, you can't know that. We don't know what this man is capable of. At the time I didn't think I needed you to come with me. Do not blame yourself for what happened. Please don't," Allison reassured him.

Flack sighed. "Okay. You're right. I'm sorry. I'll go get you those pain killers."

"Okay thanks," she responded with a smile. Allison leaned against the back of the couch and closed her eyes. Within minutes she was asleep.

* * *

What was that god awful noise and why wouldn't it stop? Allison opened her eyes. She was lying in her bed and the noise was the alarm clock. She reached over to turn it off, but stopped short due to the awful pain in her abdomen. Before she could scoot closer on the bed, Flack rushed into the room to turn it off. Allison looked up at him in surprise.

"Sorry I couldn't get in here faster. I didn't hear it go off," he said to her.

"What are you doing here?" was her response.

"Uhh… I brought you home from the hospital. We sat on the couch for a while and talked, but then you fell asleep. So I brought you in here. You've been out for like five hours. I decided to take a nap myself and set the alarm clock," Flack answered.

"But why didn't you just leave after I fell asleep?" The moment the words left her mouth, Allison knew they had come out wrong. "I mean, you didn't have to stay."

Flack chuckled. "I know. But I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Oh, well thank you. Um, is Annaleigh home?"

"No. You're sister called and when I told her that you were asleep she said that she would take Annaleigh back to her place."

"Oh okay. That's good. I'll have Gilly bring her home later."

"I can go pick her up if you need me to. That way your sister doesn't have to worry about it."

"Alright, if you're okay with that."

"It's not a problem at all. She gave me her address earlier, just in case. You go back to sleep and I'll go get Annaleigh."

"Okay. Thank you so much Don." Allison closed her eyes once again and fell back asleep, a small smile on her face.

"It's my pleasure," Flack whispered. He then got up and quietly left the apartment.

* * *

"Alright Annaleigh, I'm not going to sugar coat it. Your mom is pretty beat up. She has a lot of bruises on her face and she has a cut on her stomach. I've been taking care of her today while you were at school, but you'll have to help out. Okay?" Flack had just gotten Annaleigh from her aunt's apartment and was taking her home. He figured it would be a good idea to prepare her for what she was about to see.

"Um… okay."

Flack looked in the rearview mirror. Annaleigh looked terrified. "Hey, don't worry. She may look bad right now, but soon your mom will be as good as new. I promise."

He saw that his words helped lighten her expression. What she said next totally shocked him. "So are you going to ask her out on another date?"

Flack smiled lightly. This little girl was something else. He was amazed at how easily she went from being worried about Allison to basically asking if the two were going to start dating.

"I would like to. Do you want me to?" he asked.

"Yes! I would really like it if you did," she replied with a huge smile.

"Okay then I will. How about I ask her when we get back? Do you think I should stop and get her some flowers?"

"Yes! Her favorite flowers are calla lilies. The shop around the corner from our apartment has some. You should go there," Annaleigh told him eagerly.

"Alright, then we'll do that," Flack said smiling as he turned his attention back to the road.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! Here's the next chapter :)**

* * *

"Momma look at all the snow!" Annaleigh exclaimed.

"I know! It's pretty isn't it?" Allison loved how excited Annaleigh got when she saw snow. Coming from Georgia, they never got to see much snow, so it was a real treat.

It was Christmastime in New York. They had gotten about a foot of snow overnight. Allison was glad she had the day off. She could spend it playing in the snow with Annaleigh and Don, who was also off that day. Allison had been so intent on watching the snow that she didn't hear her bedroom door open. She didn't hear Flack walk up behind her and didn't know he was there until he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck.

"Glad to see you're finally up," she mused.

"I wouldn't be awake if someone hadn't left her bed so cold," he teased.

"I'm sorry. Annaleigh woke up and saw the snow. She was really excited."

"It's okay. How about you stay here and I'll go make breakfast. You have a busy day ahead of you what with getting ready for the party tonight."

"Ugh the party," Allison groaned. "I completely forgot. So much for getting to play in the snow."

Allison had offered to throw a Christmas party for the team. She figured it would be a good way for them to get to know each other better. Even though she had already been working at the lab for several months, there was still a lot for her coworkers to learn about her and vice versa.

"Oh I'm sure we can still have some fun before the party starts. What time is everyone supposed to get here?" Don asked turning his girlfriend around to kiss her on the forehead.

"I told them to show up around eight."

"Good. We definitely have plenty of time to go outside and build a snowman or two," Flack said with a smile. He kissed Allison one more time then turned. "I'm going to go make breakfast now. Hey Annie! Do you want to come and help me make pancakes for mommy?"

"Yes! Can we put chocolate chips in them?" Annaleigh replied, jumping up from the floor. She loved when Flack called her Annie. It was his special nickname for her. No one else called her that and if they tried she corrected them.

"We can if we have some. But we might have used them all the other day when we made cookies," he answered.

Allison smiled as the pair walked into the kitchen. They were so cute together. Flack treated Annaleigh like she was his daughter. And Allison knew that Annaleigh was beginning to see him as a father. She and Flack had discussed the possibility of him adopting Annaleigh, but something was holding her back. She wasn't quite sure what it was. Maybe it was the fact that they had only been together for a few months. Or that they didn't even live together. Or maybe Allison just didn't think that Annaleigh was ready yet. Whatever the reason was, it was the only thing preventing Allison from allowing Flack to adopt Annaleigh.

Thankfully he was very understanding. And he didn't push the subject either. Flack knew that Allison was very protective of her daughter and he would give her all the time she needed.

The sounds of laughter pulled Allison out of her musings. She walked over to the kitchen to see what they were doing.

"I don't remember this much noise being involved in making pancakes," she joked. Flack and Annaleigh immediately stopped laughing and turned around with their eyes wide. Allison's mind went straight to the worst possible scenario.

"What's wrong? What happened? What did you two break? You didn't break one of my plates did you? Those plates belonged t-"

At that moment a half-cooked pancake fell to the floor. Allison looked up at the ceiling to find some batter that had been left behind.

"What the hell?" she asked.

"Don was trying to flip the pancakes and it accidentally hit the ceiling!" Annaleigh blurted out in a single breath. She had spoken so quickly that it took a minute for Allison's brain to register what her daughter had said. She had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing at their frightened faces.

"Well," she said, pausing for added suspense. "It looks like we had chocolate chips left," she added with a smile.

The relieved expressions on their faces made Allison smile even more. She turned to walk out of the kitchen, but stopped at the door.

"I'm going to go take a shower. This mess had better be gone by the time I get out."

"Not a problem. Hurry though because breakfast will be ready soon." Flack flashed a smile and watched Allison leave the room. He then turned his attention back to the stove.

* * *

An hour later, Allison, Flack, and Annaleigh were fed and ready to go outside. They left the apartment and walked out of the building. The three of them played in the snow for what seemed like hours. They made snow angels and snowmen. And even started a snowball fight with some of their neighbors.

Allison was having the time of her life. She glanced across the street and stopped dead in her tracks. It wasn't possible. He couldn't be back. Not now. She had finally gotten over what he had done to her months ago. Allison's hands instinctively went to her stomach where she could feel the long scar. The scar that this man had given her.

Allison was pulled out of her thoughts by a snowball hitting her square in the back. She turned around to see who had thrown it. Flack. When he saw the look in her eyes he immediately knew something was wrong. As he walked over to Allison, she turned back around only to discover that Joseph Gordon was gone.

"Allison, what's wrong?" Flack asked.

"He's here," she whispered back. Flack knew, from the fear in her eyes and voice, exactly who she was talking about.

"Okay, you go inside. I'll get Annaleigh."

Allison did as she was told. She watched as Flack went over to Annaleigh and scooped her up. She protested, but he told her something that calmed her down. He rushed over to Allison and they all hurried upstairs. When they got into Allison's apartment, Flack quickly locked the deadbolt and chain.

"Mommy what's going on?" Annaleigh demanded. Allison walked over to her daughter and pulled her into her arms.

"Do you remember when I got hurt a few months ago? Well, the man that did it had disappeared. Until today. I saw him while we were playing outside."

"What? Does that mean he's going to hurt you again?" Annaleigh asked. She looked extremely frightened. Flack over and knelt down so he was eye level with her.

"Annie. I want you to listen too me real close okay? I am not going to let this man hurt mommy ever again. And I'm not going to let him hurt you either. Okay?"

Annaleigh simply nodded. As tears filled her eyes, Flack grabbed her and pulled her toward him. He held her until she stopped crying. At that moment, Allison made a decision that would change their lives forever.

* * *

After a lot of arguing and debating, Allison convinced Flack to not cancel the party. She didn't want everyone else's night to be ruined because of what had happened earlier.

It was now seven forty-five and their friends would be arriving soon. Annaleigh was in the dining room setting the table while Flack and Allison were getting dressed. They had been quiet for several minutes.

"I want you to adopt Annaleigh," Allison finally said, breaking the silence. She had been thinking about how to tell him all day. After what she'd seen that morning she knew it was the right time.

"W-what? Are you serious?" Flack couldn't believe his ears. Allison laughed and nodded.

"Of course I'm serious. She already thinks of you as a father and I know you see her as your daughter. I just think it's time we made it official."

"Oh God. Allison. Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me. I'm going to go tell Annaleigh."

"Wait! I want it to be a surprise. She can find out when we tell everyone else."

"I understand. We'll keep it a secret until after dinner. I love you Allison. I love you so much."

"I love you too Don." Allison leaned over to kiss her boyfriend, but before she could, the doorbell rang.

"They're here! They're here!" Annaleigh shouted excitedly as she ran to her mother's bedroom. "Mommy they're here!"

"Then let them in silly!" Allison said to her daughter. She watched Annaleigh run back down the hall. Just as she and Flack were about to leave the room, She turned to ask him one final question. "Oh, one more thing. Will you move in with us?"

"Of course I will."

* * *

An hour later everyone was gathered around the table. Much to Annaleigh's delight, Danny and Lindsay had decided to bring their little girl Lucy. Annaleigh had taken her into the other room to play Barbies while the adults stayed in the dining room enjoying several after dinner drinks.

Allison stole a meaningful glance at Flack who nodded slightly. He quietly got up and went too get Annaleigh and Lucy. They needed to be in the room for this announcement.

Allison stood up and cleared her throat. Everyone fell silent just as Flack returned with the girls.

"Excuse me everyone. Don and I have a couple of very important announcements. Lately, we've been discussing out lives and where they are headed. Both individually and as a couple. We feel that we are meant to be together. There's something between us that just fits. We've decided that it's time for us to move in together."

Allison paused here to allow everyone to congratulate them and say how happy they were for the couple. Annaleigh's eyes lit up and she had a huge smile on her face. Little did she know that this was just the tip of the iceberg. After everyone had quieted down again, Allison continued.

"And now for my next announcement. This is something that's going to change the lives of Don, Annaleigh, and myself. It's something that Don and I have discussed time and time again, but I was always hesitant. Whatever it was that was holding me back disappeared this morning. So I finally agreed to let it happen. Don is going to adopt Annaleigh."

"Really?!" Annaleigh shrieked turning to Flack. He simply nodded tears forming in his eyes. She ran and jumped into his arms and he just held her, both of them crying tears of joy.

Allison was also crying and as she looked at her friends, she saw that tears were falling down Lindsay's and Stella's cheeks as well. When Flack finally put Annaleigh down, Danny got up and went over to hug his best friend.

"I'm happy for you man. You really deserve this."


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Thanks for the great reviews! Enjoy Chapter 7!**

* * *

The party ended after a few hours. Everyone left one by one congratulating Allison and Flack on their way out. Soon the only guests left were Danny and Lindsay. They would be staying in the guest bedroom since they lived the farthest away and Lucy had long ago fallen asleep in Annaleigh's room.

Allison and Lindsay fell back onto the couch while Danny and Flack went into the kitchen to clean up.

"We've trained them so well," Lindsay noted with a smile. Allison chuckled.

"We really have huh?"

"We're just amazing like that. So what made you finally decide to let Don adopt Annaleigh?"

"Well we were playing outside this morning and I saw _him_ across the street. We came inside immediately, but Annaleigh was really scared. The way Flack handled it and comforted her, I just knew it was the right time."

"That's amazing. But um… you saw him? Are you sure? Could it have been someone else?" Lindsay asked sounding panicked. Allison was her best friend and she didn't want anything else bad to happen to her.

"Lindsay, the man held me hostage for two weeks. I'm one hundred percent positive it was him."

"What are you going to do? I mean, he obviously knows where you live."

"Don and I talked about that earlier. We're going to talk to Annaleigh's school about everything. And he's going to request to work the same shifts as me. Plus we have Abigail and Cody to help us out. Annaleigh can stay over there for a while if she needs to. She and Scarlett would love that."

"Don't forget that you have Danny and I too. We will always be here for you guys."

"Thank you so much Lindsay. You have no idea how much that means to me." At this point tears started to form in Allison's eyes. She let them fall as Lindsay embraced her. The two women sat there and wept.

* * *

Meanwhile, Danny and Flack were busy cleaning up the very messy kitchen.

"I can't believe this is actually happening," Flack said while rinsing off a plate. He handed it to Danny as he added," It's a dream come true."

Danny laughed. He knew how much his best friend had always wanted kids; even when they were teenagers. He also knew just how much Flack loved Allison and Annaleigh. He would do anything for them and to protect them.

"I need your help Danny." The worry in Flack's voice alarmed Danny. Something was wrong and he had a feeling it had something to do with Allison.

"Of course Don. What's goin on?"

"Joseph Gordon showed up today."

"What? What do you mean 'showed up'? Where did it happen? Did he do anything?"

"No, nothing happened. We were playing in the snow and Allison saw him across the street. By the time I noticed something was wrong he was already gone. I'm at a loss for what to do."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know how I can protect them. Allison and I are going to talk to Annaleigh's school and I'm going to request to work the same shifts as her, but there's only so much I can do. I mean, I'm just one man and this sicko knows where we freaking live! I love both of them more than anything in the world, but I don't feel like I can protect them."

"Of course you can Don! You're an amazing cop. Even more, you're an amazing boyfriend to Allison and I know you'll be an excellent father to Annaleigh. I'm here to help you. I'll do whatever you need me to."

"Thank you Danny. So you think I'm going to be an excellent father huh?"

"I think you already are man."

"Thanks." Flack hugged his best friend. "What do you say we finish these dishes and get back out there to our women."

"Sounds like the best idea you've ever had."

* * *

A shrill beeping interrupted the silence.

_What is that noise? Why is it so loud? And why won't it go away?_

Those were the questions floating through Allison's mind as she slowly opened her eyes. She had been having a wonderful dream, but she couldn't remember what it was about. She just knew that it made her feel happy. Everything was perfect until this noise went and ruined it. She quickly realized that it was her cell phone and she jumped out of bed to answer it before Flack woke up.

"H-hello?" she said groggily, still half asleep.

_Allison? It's Stella. I hate to be calling you so late, but we're short staffed and I need you and Lindsay to go out to a crime scene._

"Ugh, okay. Does Lindsay know?"

_Mac is on the phone with her right now. He'll give her the address and you two can head over there. Thank you so much._

"Yeah, no problem. See you later." Allison glanced at the clock as she hung up her phone. Four in the morning. She'd been asleep for exactly two hours. Awesome. Today was going to suck. At least Lindsay would be in the same boat. Allison quietly left her room to go start some coffee. As she was leaving the kitchen, Lindsay came out of the guestroom. She said hello to Allison with a half smile.

"Hey. I already started the coffee. If you want to take a shower here you can use Annaleigh's bathroom. We can stop by your place on the way to the crime scene so you can change."

"Okay thanks."

They went into their separate bathrooms and came out twenty minutes later feeling a little bit more awake than they had been. Lindsay poured the coffee into two thermoses while Allison wrote a note for Danny and Flack. She taped it to the fridge and they walked out the front door.

* * *

"So who is the vic?" Allison asked as they walked to the crime scene.

"Some opera singer. Apparently she was a well known sopr- holy crap!"

Allison chuckled at Lindsay's reaction, but wasn't surprised at all. They had just gotten to the crime scene which was located in the victim's dressing room.

"It is a bit over the top isn't it?" she asked.

"Ya think?" Lindsay replied laughing.

"Actually I think my mom's closet might be bigger than this."

"Please tell me you're joking."

"I really wish I was." The two women laughed as they began to process the scene.

As she worked her way around the room, Allison came to an ornate door. She dusted the handle for prints and stood up to open it.

"This must be where they keep the _really_ expensive clothes," she said aloud.

Lindsay laughed. "The ones we don't even get to dream of owning."

Allison smiled and walked into the room. She was instantly breath taken by the extravagant clothes. As she walked deeper into the room Allison heard the door click behind her. All of the clothes were made of silk and were intricately embroidered.

"Linds you have got to come look at these," she shouted. When she didn't get a response, Allison assumed Lindsay hadn't heard her. She went to open the door and talk to Lindsay.

"Hey Lind-"

The world went black.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Thanks for the reviews!!**

* * *

Flack rolled over and went to put his arm around Allison, but quickly found that she wasn't there. Thinking that she must be in the kitchen, he got out of bed and started down the long hallway. Before he could get even halfway to the kitchen, Danny came rushing out of the guest room.

"Don your phone is off. Mac has been trying to call you," he said hurriedly.

"What's goin on? Did something happen?"

"Lindsay and Allison were kidnapped from their crime scene."

"What?! They weren't even supposed to work today! How could this happen? Who was the cop on scene? He had better get fired!" Flack was shouting as loud as he could without waking Annaleigh and Lucy.

"Don calm down. You're gonna wake the girls up. Trust me. I want someone to take care of that cop too, but right now we gotta concentrate on not freakin the kids out. I'm gonna run home and get some clothes for Lucy. You get ready and we can wake them up when I get back alright?"

"Okay." Flack was thankful that his best friend was there. The situation was ironic though. Usually Danny was the one flying off the handle and Flack the one thinking rationally.

Danny left the apartment without another word. Flack walked into his bathroom and turned the shower on. He went back into his room and got a change of clothes. He then got in the shower and stood there, letting the water beat down on him. Flack leaned against the wall, closed his eyes, and started to cry.

He had no idea how long he had been crying, but Flack soon heard Danny calling his name. He quickly got out of the shower and put on some clean clothes.

"Hey Danny, are the girls up?"

"No. I was waiting for you. You ready?"

Flack sighed. "Yeah, I guess."

They woke the girls up and got them off to school, then headed to the lab. There they met Mac and Stella who were waiting to explain the situation.

"Okay this is what we know," Mac said. "They were processing a scene, the cop on site left for a few minutes, and Joseph Gordon was able to sneak in and kidnap them.

"Who was the cop?" Flack asked at the same time that Danny asked, "How do you know it was him?"

"We saw him on a surveillance camera and it is none of your concern who the cop was. He has already been fired," Stella replied. She knew that both men were extremely worried. She walked up to both of them and hugged them. "We're going to find Allison and Lindsay. And we'll run this guy into the ground when we catch him. I promise."

As she pulled away, Stella saw the tears in the eyes of both Danny and Flack. The sight caused tears to fill her own eyes. She turned and walked into the locker room.

"Stella's right. We're going to get them back," Mac said as he turned to follow his girlfriend.

Danny took a deep breath and looked at Flack. "Let's nail this son of a bitch."

* * *

_Ugh I drank too much last night._ This was the first thought that popped into Lindsay's mind. However, she quickly realized what had happened and that thought was replaced with many more. _Why the hell am I tied up? What's going on? Where am I? Where's Allison?_

"Allison!" she called. No response. "Allison?!"

"Allison can't answer at the moment." The voice was cold. And male. It was one that she didn't recognize. "I'm afraid she is still unconscious. I may have accidentally hit her too hard."

At this moment, Lindsay knew she was in serious trouble.

* * *

Allison slowly opened her eyes and peered out into the darkness. She had no idea what had happened or where she was. She was tied to a chair and had a horrible headache. Allison racked her brain, trying to remember what had happened in that dressing room.

"Lindsay and I were processing the scene." She said aloud. "I went into the other room. When I called for Lindsay she didn't answer. I went to open the door-"

"And then I knocked you out."

The evil, familiar voice of Joseph Gordon interrupted her thoughts. A wave of fear washed over Allison's body.

"You." Allison's voice was dripping with disdain.

"Aw. Now that makes me sad Allison. We haven't seen each other in so long. Why do you have to use that tone?"

"Because I despise you."

"I can understand why you might be a little upset with me. Your head will heal just fine though. It's only a little cut."

"You think that's why I hate you?" Allison asked, her voice beginning to rise. "You kidnapped me when I was a child and killed my sister. Then a few months ago you come back. Somehow you found me here in New York. You drugged and attacked me. And now you've kidnapped me and my best friend. As you can see I have several reasons to hate you besides a little cut."

"Why don't we just put the past behind us? I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."

"You disgust me. Where is Lindsay?"

"Oh, she's fine. She's in the other room."

"I want to see her," Allison demanded.

"Now I'm afraid I can let that happen. Unless you give me something first." Gordon replied.

"I'm not giving you anything."

"Then you won't be seeing your friend!" Gordon shouted hitting her. Allison bit her lip to keep from crying out. She knew that he wanted her to cry and beg for mercy, but she was not going to give it to him.

* * *

"I don't see any signs of a struggle," Danny mentioned as they walked onto the deserted crime scene.

"Their kits are still here though. It looks like they were in the middle of processing. Has anyone found their phones yet?" Mac asked.

"No. They might be with them still. I'll call Communications and have them try to track the phones," Flack responded. He walked off to a corner to make the call, leaving Danny and Mac in the other room.

"Mac, what if we don't find them?" Danny asked the fear obvious in his voice.

"Don't worry Danny. We will find them. We will get them home safely. I promise you that."

"But what if tracking their phones doesn't work? There's nothing else to lead us to where they are."

"Have you forgotten what you do for a living? We have several resources aside from being able to track a couple of cell phones."

At that moment Flack rushed in. "It worked! We got a hit off of both phones. They're in the same place. Some warehouse out in Queens."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Danny asked. "Let's get over there!"

* * *

From somewhere in the near distance, Lindsay heard screaming. She knew it must have been Allison. What was he doing to her?

_Lindsay!_

Allison was calling to her. He must have left the room.

"Allison!" she shouted. Lindsay didn't expect another answer. She knew that all Allison needed was to know that her best friend was alive. And for Lindsay, the most important thing was to know that Allison was still alive.

Suddenly the door opened. Before Lindsay could say anything, Allison was thrown into the room. Lindsay rushed over to her.

"Oh Allison. Thank God you're still alive. Are you okay?"

"Not really. I'm glad I'm not alone anymore though. Did he hurt you at all?" she asked.

"No. He never laid a finger on me," Lindsay replied. She tried to hide the look of horror that swept across her face as she looked over her best friend's body. Allison was covered in bruises and cuts. Blood was flowing freely and upon closer inspection, Lindsay saw that there were fresh cigarette burns. "What do you think he's going to do now?"

"I have no idea. He's crazy. I don't understand why he didn't just kill me when I was little or when he attacked me at the club. Why does he have to keep torturing me? What is it about me that won't let him leave me alone?"

"I don't know Allison. But I do know that Danny and Flack will find us before Joseph Gordon can hurt either of us anymore."

* * *

At that moment twenty police cars silently pulled up outside of the warehouse. Flack, Danny, and Mac exited one of them, putting their vests on in the process. Mac addressed everyone present.

"Alright. Half of you are going to stay out here. The other half will team up into pairs. We will search every room until we find them." He then held up pictures of Gordon, Lindsay, and Allison. "This is the man we're looking for. He kidnapped these two detectives and is holding them hostage in there. Is everybody ready? Let's go. Danny and Don, you two are with me."

They searched the entire building. Mac was about ready to give up when they came to the last door. Flack kicked it in and immediately let out a sigh of relief. He and Danny ran into the room and rushed over to their significant others.

"This is Detective Taylor. We found them. I need two buses to meet us outside," Mac said into his radio. He then turned his attention to the two women. "Are you two able to walk?"

"I can," Lindsay replied. "But I don't think Allison is able to."

"I can carry her. We'll be fine," Flack said. He picked Allison up and walked out of the room with Lindsay, Danny, and Mac following them.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! This is kind of a short chapter, but I felt I had reached a good stopping point.**

* * *

Stella walked through the hospital as quickly as she could without actually running. She turned a corner and found Mac, leaning against the wall. She started walking over to him and as she did, he looked up. His eyes locked with hers and he immediately rushed over to her and embraced her.

"You have no idea how glad I am you weren't at that crime scene," he whispered into her ear. Tears started to fall down her face. Mac held her for a few moments until Stella pulled away.

"How are they?" she asked.

"Lindsay's okay. Just a bump on the head. The doctor said she should be able to leave tomorrow," Mac replied.

"That's great! What about Allison?" Upon hearing this question, Mac's face fell.

"She's in pretty bad shape. They immediately took her into surgery when the ambulance got here. Apparently she has a lot of internal bleeding and a couple of broken ribs. She also has a broken leg. They're doing all they can, but the doctors say it doesn't look good."

"Oh my god! How did Flack take the news? Does Annaleigh know anything yet?"

"Annaleigh doesn't know anything. Allison's sister, Abigail, picked her up from school and is taking care of her until we know more. Flack's taking it really hard. He seems kind of lost and like he doesn't know what to do with himself. Thankfully he has Danny to help him out," Mac explained.

"That's good. Where is everyone?"

"In the OR waiting room upstairs. Lindsay refuses to go back to her room until Allison comes out of surgery."

Stella laughed lightly. "That sounds like Lindsay. Well, we might as well go upstairs and wait with them."

Mac gave her one last hug, then took her hand and led her over to the elevator.

* * *

"Who's here for Allison Murphy?" the surgeon asked. Half of the people in the waiting room stood up. One of them stepped forward.

"I'm her boyfriend. Don Flack."

"Okay. Could you please come with me?"

"Uhh… sure." Flack was nervous. The surgeon must have bad news. Otherwise he would have asked to speak to everyone. At least, that's what Flack thought. He followed to surgeon down a small corridor. When the man stopped, Flack stopped too leaning against the wall.

"Allison suffered several internal injuries. We were able to repair them all, but she still lost a lot of blood. She's still unconscious. All we can do now is wait for her to wake up."

"H-how long will that take?" Flack didn't want to hear the answer, but knew that he had to.

"We don't know. It could be hours, days, or even months. We've done everything we can up to this point. I'm sorry sir."

"Thank you doctor. For everything you've done."

"Of course. You should get back to your friends. Do you want me to tell them about her condition or will you be okay?"

"I've got it. Thanks." Flack slowly walked back to the waiting room. The moment he walked through the door and saw his friends' anxious faces, tears started to fall.

"She's in a coma. They have no idea when or if she'll wake up," he said through the tears. At his words, Lindsay and Stella immediately started to cry. Danny walked over to Flack and embraced him.

"Everything's going to be alright. Allison is going to be alright. She'll wake up. I know she will. She's a fighter. It's all going to be okay. I promise," Danny whispered in his best friend's ear.

"Thank you Danny. That really means a lot to me," Flack whispered back. He pulled away and looked at everyone else. "They said that all we can do is wait and see what happens. I suggest you guys go home. I'll call you if she wakes up."

"Flack, are you stupid? You're not the only here who loves Allison. None of us is leaving until she wakes up. You can be sure of that," Stella said.

Flack smiled. "Thank you Stella. Thanks to all of you. Allison is really lucky to have friends like you guys."

"And she's extremely lucky to have a boyfriend like you," Lindsay said.

* * *

_**Five Days Later**_

Allison slowly opened her eyes. When she did, she was blinded by the bright light of her hospital room. She tried to speak, but something prevented her from doing so. She quickly realized that there was a tube down her throat. She tried to move, but found that she had very little strength. Allison turned her head to look around the room. She found Lindsay and Flack asleep in chairs next to her bed. There was a third chair, but it was empty. Allison knew that this must be where Danny had been sitting. Almost as if he could read her mind, Danny walked into the room. He saw that Allison was awake and rushed over to her.

"Hey there. Don't freak out okay? You're in the hospital and you've been intubated. I'm going to wake Don up and then try and find you a pen and some paper. Okay?"

Allison nodded, but before Danny could turn around, Don was up and at her side.

"Hey baby. How are you feeling? Are you alright?" he asked. When she nodded he smiled. "Good. Danny will be back in just a second. I'm so glad you're okay. I don't know what I would have done if…" his voice trailed off.

Allison understood what he meant and gently placed her hand on his arm. The gesture was enough to make him start crying. Tears began to silently fall from Allison's eyes. The couple cried for a few moments, until Danny returned with the doctor.

"Hi Allison. I'm Doctor Riese. I've been watching your condition closely. It's great to see you awake again," he said to her. While the doctor was explaining what had happened to Allison, Danny woke Lindsay up and they walked out of the room. Both were extremely happy to see that Allison was okay.

They waited outside until the doctor came out and then went back in. Flack was sitting on the edge of the bed holding Allison's hand. She was writing something to which he answered 'Of course'.

"Hey Allison," Lindsay said quietly. She walked over to her friend and grabbed her hand. "How are you feeling?"

_Good. Weak and sore. I'm in a lot of pain._ Allison wrote.

"Can't they give you more painkillers?" Danny asked.

"They've already given her the maximum dosage," Flack answered. When Allison hit his arm, he looked down to see what she had written.

_How long was I asleep?_

"Five days," Flack told her. "It was the longest five days of my life."

"When will they be able to extubate you?" Lindsay asked. She knew Allison had to feel miserable with the tube down her throat.

Again Flack answered for her. "They'll do it tomorrow. Before Annaleigh comes to see her."

"That's good. I went ahead and called Mac by the way. He and Stella will be here when their shifts are over," Danny told them.

_Good. I can't wait to see them. Or Annaleigh. I'm getting really tired._ Allison was exhausted. She was using almost all of the strength she had to stay up. She wanted to go back to sleep.

"Of course. We'll leave and let you sleep," Lindsay said. She gave her friend a quick hug and then left with Danny.

"So do you want me to lay in the bed or sleep in the chair?" Flack asked Allison. He laughed at the look she gave him. It clearly said that she wanted him to lay in the bed. He took his shoes off and got comfortable. The couple quickly fell into a deep sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! It was brought to my attention that I didn't specify when this story is set. It is set three years after 5x25. I did that so that Lucy was a little older and also so Flack had time to move on after Angell's death. So here is Chapter 10. I hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

"Okay Annie. Before we go in there I want to talk to you about what happened to your mom," Flack said. He had gone to get Annaleigh from Abigail's apartment. This would be the first time she had seen Allison in almost a week. "She has a lot of cuts and bruises on her face. And her leg is broken and so are a couple of ribs. They took the tube out of her throat this morning so she has to whisper to talk. Okay?"

"Okay," Annaleigh replied. She was a little nervous, but she couldn't wait to see her mom again. A week was way too long.

"Alright let's go in there," Flack said as he took Annaleigh's hand. When they walked into the room a smile instantly lit Allison's face.

"Hey baby!" she whispered. Annaleigh was a little insecure about what to do. She really wanted to hug her mom, but didn't want to hurt her. Allison could see the fear in Annaleigh's eyes. "It's okay honey. You can come hug me. I won't break."

Annaleigh smiled and rushed over to her mother. "I missed you so much. When do you get to come home?"

"I missed you too sweetie. I get to leave in a couple of days. They want to make sure that I'm all better before they send me home."

"Oh okay," Annaleigh said, sadness taking over her face.

"Hey, you know what Annie? That's actually perfect because it gives us time to make the apartment look nice for Mom," Flack interjected. Annaleigh immediately perked up. The three sat talking for about an hour, until the nurse came in to give Allison her medicine. Flack took this as his cue to take Annaleigh back to Abigail's.

"Can I come back tomorrow and see you again?" Annaleigh asked her mom.

"Of course you can honey. Aunt Abby is going to bring you here right after school. Okay?"

"Okay. I love you mommy."

"I love you too baby."

Flack leaned down to give Allison a kiss. "I'll be right back. I love you Allison."

"I love you too Don." Allison watched her boyfriend and daughter leave the room. She smiled to herself and then closed her eyes. The medicine began to take effect and soon she was asleep.

* * *

_Two Days Later_

"Okay Allison, it looks like you're well enough to go home," Doctor Riese told his very happy patient. "I want you to come back in for a check up in two weeks. And I would like for you to wait at least a month before going back to work."

Allison's happy expression was replaced by a disappointed one. She liked going to work and had been looking forward to getting back as soon as possible. "What if I just stay in the lab and don't go out in to field?"

Dr. Riese laughed. "We'll discuss it when you come back in two weeks. Until then, please stay home. Your leg still needs time to heal. And if you're up running around, that's not going to happen. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Good. I'll go tell Don and Annaleigh. They seem really excited."

It was Allison's turn to laugh. "I'm sure they are. Apparently they've moved all of our furniture to make it easier for me to get around the apartment."

"Well that was very thoughtful of them," Dr. Riese said with a smile. He turned to walk out of the room. "I'll send them in now."

"Thank you doctor," Allison called. A huge smile spread across her face when she saw Annaleigh walk in carrying a bunch of balloons, followed by Flack carrying a huge bouquet of daisies. "You two are so sweet. I love both of you very much."

Annaleigh just stood there and grinned while Flack set the flowers down on the bed. He walked over to Allison and gave her a kiss. "We love you too. So, are you ready to get out of here?"

"Yes! I'm already packed and everything."

"Good. Danny is downstairs watching the car. Lindsay's getting a cart for all of your gifts," Flack said looking around the room. It was full of flowers and balloons. Allison had certainly made a lot of friends in the few months she had been working at the lab.

At that moment Lindsay, walked through the door smiling.

"Hey! I found a cart. Annaleigh, do you want to help me put all of the flowers on it?"

"Sure!" Annaleigh replied jumping up from her chair.

While Lindsay and Annaleigh were moving the flowers, a nurse brought a wheelchair and crutches for Allison. She took one look at the wheelchair and shook her head.

"Uh uh. I am not riding in that thing."

Flack laughed. "Come on Allison. It's hospital policy. You have to. The sooner you start cooperating, the sooner we can get out of here. I know you hate hospitals just as much as I do." His words caused Allison to groan.

"Fine," she agreed reluctantly. The nurse pulled the wheelchair right up next to the bed and Allison slid down into it, folding her arms in the process.

"Can he at least push me out?" Allison asked the nurse.

"Of course," the nurse answered and then she left the room.

Flack took a look at everything they had to take with them and realized that they probably needed the nurse's help.

"Uh… Lindsay can you push that thing by yourself?"

"I think so," she answered, but when she tried it wouldn't budge.

"Flack thought for a moment. "Okay. I'll push the cart. Linds you push Allison and she can hold her bag in her lap. Annie, can you carry the crutches?"

"Yes I can."

"Okay good. Are we ready to go then?"

"I think so," Allison said with a smile.

With that they left the room and met Danny downstairs. Flack helped Allison into the car while Danny, Lindsay and Annaleigh put the flowers in the back. When they were finished and everyone was buckled in, they made their way to Flack and Allison's apartment.

* * *

The moment Allison walked through her door, a huge smile spread across her face. There were boxes everywhere and she knew they belonged to Flack.

"Don when did you do this? I thought you were at the hospital all week?"

"Let's just say we work with some extremely generous people. And we have two amazing best friends," he replied glancing at Danny and Lindsay.

"Aww, you guys are so sweet! Thank you so much for doing that for him," Allison said to them, tears forming in her eyes.

"It wasn't a problem at all. We knew Don wanted to be wit you at the hospital, but he also wanted to get out of his apartment as soon as possible, so we decided to help him out," Danny said.

"And of course he owes us big time," Lindsay added causing everyone too laugh. "Well I think we better go and let you guys get settled in.

Lindsay walked over to Allison and gave her a hug. "I'm so glad you're back home."

"Thanks Linds. I'm glad you're okay too. I'm sorry you had to go through that," Allison told her.

"It's okay Allison. Really, it is. Nothing happened to me, I'm perfectly okay." The two women hugged while Danny and Flack shook hands.

"Thanks for everything man. It really means a lot to me," Flack said to his best friend.

"It really was nothing. And if you ever need me to do it again I will," Danny responded, flashing a smile. Flack smiled as well, and then walked Danny and Lindsay out. He said goodbye and closed the door.

When Flack turned around Annaleigh, who had been silent since they got home, was helping Allison over to the couch. The sight warmed his heart. He watched them for a moment until he heard his stomach growl. Glancing at his watch, Flack saw that it was well after lunchtime.

"Is anybody else hungry?" he asked even though he already knew the answer.

"I'm starving!" Annaleigh replied as Allison just shook her head yes.

"Alright, how about I make some homemade pizza?" he asked then, laughing at the smile he got from Annaleigh.

"That actually sounds really good," Allison said.

"Good. I'll go get started on it," Flack said.

After he left the room, Allison and Annaleigh sat in silence for a few minutes. Annaleigh was stroking her mom's hand and thinking about what she wanted to say next.

"Mommy?" she asked.

"What is it baby?" Allison responded.

"Promise me you'll never leave again okay?"

Allison's heart broke. The desperation in her daughter's voice made her want to cry. "Oh honey, I promise. I'll be here always. Come here and give me a hug."

Annaleigh moved closer and wrapped her arms around her mother. She kissed Allison's cheek and then laid her head down on her shoulder.

Flack moved away from the kitchen door and sat down at the table. He put his head in his hands and just sat there thinking. He thought about the exchange he had just heard. He thought about what had happened to Allison a week ago. He thought about the fear of losing her. He had been through that fear before. With Jessica. And he had no intention of going through it again. In that moment, Flack vowed to never let anything happen to Allison or Annaleigh ever again.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you like the story so far :)**

* * *

"Don you're going to have to put some of this in storage. There just isn't enough room for all of it," Allison said glancing at the mess in their bedroom. She and Flack had been trying to unpack his things, but ran out of space quickly.

"Or, maybe you could get rid of some of your clothes. I really don't think you need this many clothes. I've never even seen you in half of them," Flack told her his voice sounding a little strained.

"The reason you haven't seen me in half of them is because you never take me anywhere! We go to work and we come home. Most of those clothes aren't work appropriate so you have to actually take me out to see them. But I have a feeling that's not going to happen so just don't even worry about it. I'll go throw them away right now," Allison yelled hobbling over to her closet and taking half of the clothes out. She turned around but Flack was blocking the bedroom door. He had something to say and she wasn't leaving until he said it.

"Maybe the reason I don't take you anywhere is because it seems like whenever I do, this Joseph Gordon guy shows up! Did you ever think about that? Maybe I don't want you to get hurt again! Or have you forgotten about what he did you?"

Allison went up to Flack and slapped him. "How dare you say that to me! Of course I remember what he did to me! I have to look at the scars every damn day! I have to live with the memory of my dead sister because of that man! So you do not get to say that to me and you do not get to blame me for any of this!"

With that Allison sat down on the bed and started crying. Flack was stunned. He didn't know what to say. He sat down next to her and tried to put his arm around her, but she pulled away.

"Don't touch me," she whispered.

"Allison. I'm sorry. I wasn't blaming you for what happened. And I'm sorry I said those things. I… I wasn't thinking. Allison, I love you. I didn't mean any of it."

"I'm s-sorry I h-hit you," Allison said through her sobs. "I overreacted. I don't know what's wrong with me."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I've just been really tired lately. And it seems like I overreact all the time."

"Well, we've had an exhausting couple of weeks. I know that's why I went off on you."

"Maybe. I really don't know though."

"Come here," Flack said pulling Allison into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and continued to cry. They stayed like that until Flack could hear Allison's cries die down. "Now what's going on with you?"

"I honestly have no idea. I've just been exhausted. Even before the kidnapping. It seems like no matter how much sleep I get, I'm still tired."

"Well, maybe you should go to the doctor about it. He could maybe give you some answers."

"Yeah, you're right. I'll call tomorrow. Right now I want to take a nap."

Flack laughed. "Okay. May I join you?"

"I would like that very much," Allison said smiling.

* * *

Flack opened his eyes to discover that the other side of the bed was empty. He couldn't help but worry considering what had happened the last time he woke up and Allison was gone.

He got up and walked into the living room. Flack was relieved to see Allison sitting on the couch, but his relief was quickly replaced by concern when he noticed her body language. Allison was curled up in a ball and staring at some random point in the distance.

"Allison, are you okay?" he asked. She simply nodded. As he moved closer, Flack noticed that she had been crying. "Allison, what's wrong?"

"Everything."

"What are you talking about? Why have you been crying?"

Allison sighed. She didn't really want to talk about what was bothering her, but she knew she would have to eventually. Especially since it involved Flack.

"I woke up because I had a nightmare. But it was weird because, in it, I was pregnant. Well that got me thinking." At this point, Allison's eyes teared up again and Flack knew what was coming next. "My period is two weeks late."

Flack had tried to prepare himself, but he just couldn't. It felt like all of the breath had left his body.

"S-so does that mean that you're pregnant?"

"I have to take a test to be absolutely sure, but I think I am."

"And is that why you've been crying?"

"Yes. I mean, I'm not crying because I might be pregnant. I'm crying because I'm so overwhelmed by everything that's happened. And by the fact that it seems like every time something good happens, something awful happens too." With those words Allison started to cry even harder. Flack sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Shh… it's okay. Everything's going to be okay. I won't let anything else bad happen to you. I'm going to take care of you, Annaleigh, and our baby."

Allison looked up at him and smiled. "You are so sweet. I love you so much Don. I think this may be why I've been so tired lately. And why I snapped at you the other day. I'm sorry."

"I love you too Allison. And it's okay. It's certainly understandable. Now let's go back to bed, it's late. We can go get a pregnancy test tomorrow after we take Annaleigh to school. Do you want to tell her before or after?"

"After. Just in case it's a false alarm."

"Alright. Now come on. I'm tired." And they went back to bed and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Allison was standing in the kitchen drinking hot tea while Flack was making coffee. Normally, Allison would have had coffee as well, but if she was pregnant she knew it wouldn't be good for the baby. Annaleigh didn't have to be at school for another two hours so they were taking their time.

"Do you want to take Annaleigh to get breakfast before she has to be at school?" Flack asked turning to look at Allison.

"That sounds like a good idea. Will you go wake her up while I get dressed?"

"Yeah." Flack got up and started toward Annaleigh's room, calling her name as he got closer. "Hey Annaleigh wake up! We're taking you to break-. Annaleigh? Annaleigh?!"

At the frantic sound of Flack's voice, Allison knew something was wrong and all thoughts of the baby had left her mind. Her mug slipped out of her hand, but she never heard it shatter on the ground. It felt like all of the blood had drained from her body. For a moment she couldn't move, but only for a second. Before she could realize what was going on her feet were taking her over to Annaleigh's room. When she got to the door she saw Flack's ashen face.

"Sh-she's gone. She's not here," he stammered.

"No! Where is she?! Where did she go?!" Allison shouted. She ran up to Flack. "Don what happened to her?"

At this point tears were filling both of their eyes. Flack just shook his head, a look of shock appearing on his face.

"Allison, I don't know. We have to call Mac. He'll be able to help us find her."

Allison sank to the floor and cried. Everything had been looking up, but in one split second her entire world was turned inside out.

Allison never saw Flack leave the room. She didn't hear him call Mac. All she heard were her own cries of desperation.

* * *

**AN: Please let me know what you think of this chapter. I liked it enough to publish it, but I'm not sure if it's as great as it could be. Reviews are always appreciated! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Sorry it has taken me so long to update. I've been busy with work. Plus my brother graduated this past weekend so we had a bunch of family in town. But I do already have a couple of chapters written so my next few updates will be soon. As always thanks for the great reviews!**

* * *

Within thirty minutes several squad cars and the entire team had arrived at Don and Allison's apartment. Stella and Lindsay were with Allison, trying to comfort her and calm her down. They weren't having much luck.

"Allison it's going to be okay. We're going to find her," Lindsay said as she stroked through Allison's hair.

Allison had laid her head in Lindsay's lap and Stella was knelt down beside them rubbing her back. Allison hadn't been able to stop crying since she realized Annaleigh was gone.

"It was him," she said through her sobs. "I know it was. Joseph Gordon took her. He took her to punish me for getting away in the past. He's not going to let here go."

"Allison that's not true. Annaleigh is going to be fine," Stella reassured here.

"You can't know that!" Allison shouted, causing everyone to look at the three women.

"Just like you can't know that we won't find her," Lindsay whispered.

At that moment, Mac walked over followed by Flack and Danny. "Hey Allison, we're ready to start processing so I need you and Don to leave."

She looked at him with fresh tears in her eyes. "I c-can't. I don't want to. I want to stay here. I need to be here with her things."

Flack looked at his girlfriend and was heartbroken. The desperation in her gorgeous, hazel eyes was almost too much for him to bear. He knelt down next to her and took her hands in his.

"Allison, baby. Believe me; I understand how much you want to stay. I want to stay too, but we can't. We have to go and let our friends do their jobs. They are going to find her, but they need us out of the way."

Allison looked up at him helplessly and nodded. Flack helped her stand up and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He led her toward the door, but stopped when he reached Danny.

"We'll be at her sister, Abigail's house. You can call us there if you find anything. You have the number right?"

"Lindsay has it," Danny replied nodding.

"Good. And Danny, do me a favor okay?"

"Anything Don."

"Find my daughter."

Danny set his jaw and nodded. He watched Flack lead Allison out of the apartment and then turned to Mac.

Mac was silent for a few moments after the door closed. Everyone in the apartment was waiting for him to speak. He sighed deeply and then turned to address his colleagues.

"As of this moment everyone is working this case. I want you to put a rush on all processing. Anything you find, even if it doesn't seem relevant, comes to me immediately. We're working with a small time frame here. Every hour we spend working on this is another hour we lose in the hope of finding Annaleigh. Understood? Alright, let's get to work." With that he began to process the apartment and everyone else followed suit.

Lindsay walked into the kitchen and found the shattered mug. "I've got a broken mug and what smells like tea here. I didn't know they drank tea."

"They don't," Stella said joining Lindsay in the small kitchen. "They always drink coffee. There's some in the pot over there."

Lindsay looked in the direction that Stella was pointing.

"Then why would they have tea?" she asked bending down to examine the mug. "Well, there's lipstick on it so it's definitely Allison's. Unless Flack is hiding something from us."

Suddenly Stella remembered something. "Linds, when you found out you were pregnant, you stopped drinking coffee right?"

"Yeah. And I switched to tea," Lindsay said, her voice trailing off. The realization of what was going on with Allison dawned on her. "Do you think Allison is pregnant?"

"She could be. I mean she has been noticeable more tired lately."

"Oh god. I really hope we find Annaleigh. Can you imagine losing one child and then immediately finding out that you're going to have another one?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Danny and Hawkes had gone into Annaleigh's room. Half of her blanket was hanging off the bed and the window was still open.

"She must have screamed or something. How did they not hear her?" Danny asked aloud.

"Well, maybe she didn't scream," Hawkes said, standing up. He was holding a small cloth that didn't belong in the room. He began putting it into an evidence bag. "I'll bet you one hundred bucks that there's chloroform on here."

"There might be epithelials on it too," Danny said as he walked over to the window. He noticed something out of place. "Hey, I got blood!"

Mac heard him from the bedroom and quickly appeared at Danny's side. "Excellent work Danny. Swab it and get it to DNA."

"Will do boss. Hawkes found a rag that most likely has chloroform and epithelials on it."

"Great. Get that to the lab too. I'm going to go see what Stella and Lindsay have found."

Danny and Hawkes nodded as Mac left the room. They glanced at each other and continued to process the room.

* * *

Two hours later the team was back at the lab. They had gone over the apartment with fine toothed combs and had brought a mountain of evidence back with them. They were now working their way through it piece by piece.

Hawkes was testing the cloth he had found while Danny was examining some fibers that had been caught on the windowsill. As they were working, Lindsay rushed into the room.

"I traced the dirt we found under the window. Turns out it wasn't dirt. It was coffee grounds. It's a rare Nicaraguan coffee bean. And there's only one place in the city that used to package them. It's been abandoned for a few years now, but they could have easily left some of the beans on the floor."

"That's awesome Linds!" Hawkes said. "He might have taken her there."

"Exactly. I'm going to go find Stella and let her know."

* * *

"Mac, we think we may have found them!" Stella said as she rushed into his office.

"Already? Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Danny found some trace at the crime scene and Lindsay was able to link it to an abandoned coffee factory."

"This guy sure likes abandoned buildings huh?"

"Looks like it. So what do you want to do?"

"Get Hawkes, Danny, and Lindsay in the conference room. Go ahead and grab Adam as well. We'll work out a game plan there. Make sure that Allison and Flack do not find out. I don't want to get their hopes up and then we get there and don't find her or worse…" Mac's voice trailed off. Stella understood his concern. She had been thinking the same thing. What if they were too late?

* * *

_Three Hours Later_

Mac needed a very large drink. His day had started off bad and gotten worse and worse. All he wanted to do was go home and sleep for two days. But he couldn't. He had to call Don and Allison. Mac made his way to his office, but before he could even get halfway there, the elevator doors opened and two familiar faces rushed out.

"Mac!" Allison called out. She had a huge smile on her face. Flack's was just as big.

"We heard you found Annaleigh. Where is she?" he asked.

Mac's face fell. He was stunned. He had no idea what to tell them. How had they gotten it so wrong?

Apparently he didn't have to say anything. Allison took one look at his changed expression and knew they had been completely mistaken.

"No. No no no. It's not... It can't be..." Allison couldn't form a complete sentence. She felt like the world was crashing down around her.

"B-but she's got to be okay. She can't be… she has to be fine!" Flack stammered as tears started to fall.

Allison didn't believe it. She couldn't believe it until she saw a body. She turned and walked back to the elevator jamming the down button. "It's not true. It can't be true."

When the elevator arrived, Allison quickly got on followed by Flack, Mac, and Danny who had seen and heard the entire exchange. He typed a quick text to Lindsay telling her to get down to the morgue immediately.

* * *

The second into the morgue Allison screamed.

"Nooo!"

She tried to run to her daughter's body, but she was held back by Danny and Flack.

"Allison we can't touch her. We could contaminate the evidence," Flack said through his sobs.

Allison freed herself from their grasp and ran out of the morgue. She continued running until she was out of the building. It had started raining in the short time since she and Flack had arrived, but Allison didn't care. The weather seemed to mirror her emotions. She leaned against the side of the building and slid down to the sidewalk.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting there sobbing, but suddenly Allison felt two people on either side of her. She knew who they were without having to look up. Stella and Lindsay. She allowed them to embrace her. The three women just sat there crying; allowing the rain to pour down on them.

* * *

**AN: I know I probably won't be very popular after this, but this is the way I felt the story should go. Hopefully I will be able to almost make it up to you in future chapters.**

**~Jess**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. I'm glad y'all are liking it so far :)**

* * *

After the funeral, the team met at a small restaurant near the lab. They were joined by Allison's parents, Violet and Wyatt, her sister Abigail, brother-in-law Cody, and their daughter Scarlett. They sat around the table telling stories about Annaleigh. Allison reminisced about the first time she held her baby girl.

"It was incredible," she told them. "I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that this little person had come from me."

Lindsay, Violet, and Abigail all nodded. They understood what Allison was talking about.

"Trust me. No matter how many kids you have, that feeling never goes away," Violet said knowingly. Upon hearing those words, Allison glanced at Flack. He nodded then stood up and cleared his throat.

"Allison and I have an announcement to make. We know that today is about Annaleigh and remember her life, but we also know that this news would have made her very happy. And we figured we might as well tell you now, since everyone is together. Allison and I are expecting twins."

The women squealed and the men just smiled. Everyone got up and hugged and congratulated Don and Allison.

Everyone stayed at the restaurant for a few more hours and then went their separate ways. Don and Allison wanted to spend some time alone in their apartment. While Don parked the car, Allison went on up.

The moment she walked through the door she knew something was wrong. Allison instinctively pulled her gun out of her purse. She started carrying it with her everywhere since the night Gordon attacked her at the club. She turned the corner into the hallway and saw that Annaleigh's door was open. She and Flack had closed it before they left that morning. Allison slowly made her way to the door and peered into the room.

"You," she growled.

"Me," Joseph Gordon retorted with a sneer.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Allison asked, her gun trained on the man she despised so much.

"I just wanted to stop by and tell you how beautiful Annaleigh's service was. I was almost moved to tears." He paused here and smirked at the pained expression on Allison's face.

"Your daughter really was a beautiful girl. I didn't want to kill her, but I had to. I just had to make you pay. She kept asking for you, ya know? Begged me to let her see you. She was so sad whe-"

"Shut up! Shut up! Don't talk about her like that!" Allison yelled. She noticed at that moment that he had a knife in his hand. What was he going to do? Was he going to kill her too? If that was his plan, Allison was not going to let it happen.

Gordon took a step toward her. Allison took a step back. She saw the hand that was holding the knife move slightly upward. She fired three shots.

"Allison?"

She knew the voice had come from directly behind her, but it sounded miles away.

"Allison, what have you done?"

"He was going to attack me. It was self-defense. You believe me don't you Don?"

"I saw everything, but I can't say for sure that he was going to attack you. Allison, do you realize how this looks? You just killed the man who has terrorized you almost your entire life. It looks like a revenge killing."

Allison started crying. "That's not what happened! Don, what am I going to do?"

"Don't worry. I'm going to take care of everything. I'm going to call Mac. Give me your gun and go sit in the living room."

Allison did as she was told. She sat there and listened to Flack while he called Mac and then Danny. For the second time in less than a week, her apartment was a crime scene.

When Flack got off the phone he sat down next to Allison and both just stayed silent. Neither knew how long they had been sitting there before a knock sounded at the door causing Allison to jump slightly. Flack got up and opened the door to find Mac standing there along with Chief Sinclair.

Before Mac could say a word, Chief Sinclair walked into the apartment and went up to Allison. "I want your badge and your gun immediately. You are on desk duty until further notice. IAB will be looking into this and will determine if you need to be punished further."

Allison opened her mouth to protest, but the stern looks she received from both Mac and Flack told her to shut up. She quickly closed her mouth and then went to retrieve her badge from her purse. As she handed it to the chief, Flack walked over with her gun. Chief Sinclair to both items and, with a curt nod to Mac, left the apartment.

Once again tears filled Allison's eyes and she couldn't help but let them fall. Flack sat down next to her and held her in his arms.

Mac stood in the same spot for a few minutes then cleared his throat. "The rest of the team should be here soon. You two will have to leave once you've given your statements. If you want to go pack some clothes, you should go ahead and do it now."

Allison looked up and nodded. She tried to stand up, but immediately felt dizzy and fell back on the couch. The room was spinning and wouldn't stop. Before she knew what was going on Allison had passed out.

* * *

"Allison? Allison!" Flack tapped her face a little trying to get her to wake up. "Allison baby, come on. Wake up."

Allison groaned. Her head was killing her. Her eyes slowly fluttered open. "I'm awake. What happened?"

"Baby you fainted. You got up to go pack some clothes and then you kind of started wobbling and then you passed out." Allison's hands instinctively went to her abdomen. Flack noticed this and put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. We've already called an ambulance. And Mac said that you can give your statement at the hospital."

"Ugh I really do not want to go back to the hospital. But I know that I need to," she added at the looks she got from both Flack and Mac.

They waited for the ambulance in silence. Allison tried to get up, but Flack held her down. There was no way he was going to let her sit up let alone stand. Mac stood by the window, watching for the ambulance. When he saw it pull up downstairs he turned around.

"The ambulance is here, I'll go down and meet the paramedics."

Flack and Allison nodded and watched him leave the apartment. They sat there quietly for a few moments, staring into the others' eyes. It was Allison who finally broke the silence.

"Don I'm a little scared. What if something happened to the baby?" she confessed.

"Don't worry Allison. Everything's going to be okay. You didn't land on your stomach and you didn't fall that hard. We'll just go to the hospital and find out for sure. I'm gonna go ahead and pack us a bag before Mac gets back with the paramedics."

"Okay," Allison said with a smile. "I'll lay right here waiting for you."

This statement made Flack laugh. Kissing her gently on the tip of her nose, he got up and went into their room. He quickly threw some clothes for both of them into a duffel bag. Zipping it closed, he tossed it over his shoulder and walked back into the living room. Flack walked in just as Mac was walking through the front door followed by a couple of paramedics.

"Alright miss, we're gonna go ahead and strap you to the board and carry you out. Just in case," the paramedic told her.

Allison opened her mouth to protest, but immediately closed it at the look she got from Flack. "Fine, whatever. Just make it quick in case someone I know walks by."

Mac started cracking up. "Allison, we live in a city of eight million people. You really think you're going to see someone you know?"

"Hey, it's possible!"

"Let's just get going," Flack said rolling his eyes. He turned to the paramedics, "I would like to ride with her if that's okay?" They nodded as they strapped her to the board.

"I'll meet you at the hospital, but I'm going to stop by the lab first. I'm going to go ahead and get over there so I won't be too long," Mac told them as he squeezed Allison's shoulder and shook Flack's hand. "The team is going to be here processing while I'm with you guys at the hospital," he added.

"Thank you Mac," Flack said. "We'll see you there."

Mac nodded and left the apartment for the second time that day and the third time that week. The paramedics left soon after, carrying Allison, and were followed by Flack who closed the door behind them.


End file.
